Love Is A Powerful Thing
by Halo-Lucinda-Ivy
Summary: Famous for her music on the violin, 15-year-old Raion Heart disappeared two years ago. However, the Mews discover that their bosses have more secrets lying in wait... Ryou/OC TMM anime, not MMP. Based strictly off the anime, some manga. On hiatus


Chapter 1:

~3rd POV

Ichigo Momomiya slumped into a chair after working a full day at Café Mew Mew. She sighed.

"Finally done for the day," she groaned.

Mint Aizawa sipped her tea, sitting in the chair opposite Ichigo. Ichigo made a face and pushed herself up, leaning towards Mint.

"You know, you could've done more work around her!"

"I've done my share today," Mint said calmly. "You would know if you were here on time."

Ichigo gave up and sunk back into her chair. Lettuce Midorikawa laughed.

"Well done today, ladies," Keiichiro said, coming out from the kitchen. He set down a tray with three cakes on the table. "Keep up the good work."

"Arigatou gozaimasu!" the girls said in unison.

"Neh, Akasaka-san, where's Shirogane?" Ichigo asked, taking a bite of her cake.

Keiichiro's smile faltered, but he made an attempt to keep it. "Ryou has already left," he said with a fake smile. He walked back to the kitchen to finish cleaning.

"Hmm, quite odd, isn't it?" Mint voiced.

"What is?" Ichigo asked.

"Mint-san is right," Lettuce said.

"Nani?"

Lettuce turned to Ichigo. "Shirogane-san is always leaving early. And Akasaka-san is worried about something, but won't tell us what."

"Soudane," Mint nodded. "I say, tomorrow we follow him after he leaves."

"But what if it's something super secret?" Lettuce asked.

Ichigo thought for a moment. "Shirogane and Akasaka-san are both obviously upset about something, and I don't think it has anything to do with us or the Mew Project. Maybe whatever it is, if we find out what it is, we can help make things better for them."

"So, what do you say, Lettuce?" Mint asked.

Lettuce sighed and gave in.

The next day, the girls finished up work early.

"Thank God it's Sunday today," Ichigo said, putting away her uniform. "Shop closes early."

Lettuce hurried into the dressing room. "Shirogane-san just left."

Mint stood up and walked out, saying, "Let's go, Ichigo."

"Hai, hai!" she said impatiently.

So the three girls followed Ryou through town. They could tell he was depressed by the slowness of his walking, his hands in his pockets, and his head hanging low. But they couldn't think of where in the world he could be going.

Finally, they found out his destination. The hospital.

"Who does he know that's been sent to the hospital?" Mint muttered.

"I hope it's nothing serious," Lettuce whispered worriedly.

Ichigo watched Ryou disappear behind the door and stood up straight. "Come on."

They walked inside and headed to the front desk.

"Excuse me, um," Ichigo began.

Mint shoved Ichigo out of the way and spoke to the lady at the desk. "We're looking for Ryou Shirogane. Did he just sign in here?"

The lady smiled. "You are Shirogane-kun's friends?"

The girls nodded.

"Shirogane-kun just signed in. Knowing him, he'll be here all night past visiting hours."

The girls looked at each other, then back at the nurse.

"Do you know who he's visiting?" Lettuce asked.

"I'll take it from here, Mikaze-san." The girls turned around and saw Keiichiro walking toward them.

"Ah, Akasaka-kun, it's been a while," the nurse greeted.

Keiichiro signed his name under the visitor's sign-in and agreed. "So it has. Have there been any changes in her condition, Mikaze-san?" he asked hopefully.

Mikaze shook her head regretfully. "Gomenasai." She headed to the back room.

Keiichiro sighed. "Ladies, if you will sign your names and follow me, please."

The girls each wrote their names on the sheet and quickly followed Keiichiro to the elevator. They were all quiet as they were brought up two floors. They walked off the elevator, and Ichigo finally spoke up.

"Eeto…Akasaka-san, who are we visiting?"

Keiichiro glanced at her. "Have any of you girls heard of Raion Heart?"

Mint perked up. "She's a famous violinist. Her music is beautiful." Mint put her hands on her face in a dreamlike state. "I listen to it every day."

Keiichiro smiled.

But then Mint looked downcast. "But she disappeared two years ago. No one knows where she is."

"Disappeared isn't really the word for it," Keiichiro said. "In fact, she's been in hiding, recovering from an incident that injured her two years ago."

"How do you know that, Akasaka-san?" Lettuce asked as the stopped at room 313.

"Because," Keiichiro said, opening the door, "Raion Heart is actually my little sister."

The girls gasped silently as they peered into the room. A girl with blonde hair with a brown tint in it lay in the bed on the far right side of the room. An empty chair sat next to the bed, a nightstand on the other side. The girl was hooked up to two IV stands and a heart monitor, which was beeping steadily.

"You girls aren't very stealthy when it comes to following people, you know." Ryou was leaning against the window, looking at his long-term friend and the Mews.

Ichigo stumbled. "You knew we were there the whole time?" she asked sheepishly.

"Of course." Ryou shrugged. "Just as well. You all were going to find out about Raion eventually."

"Doushite?"

"Who is she to us?" Lettuce asked.

Keiichiro closed the door, walked to the side of the bed, and sat down in the chair. He lifted Raion's right hand, showing the girls her wrist. A pink mark in the shape of an X that looked like three claw marks going across three more.

The girls gasped. "She's a Mew Mew?"

"The first, actually," Ryou said. "She matched with the genes of the African Lion. But her bravery got in the way."

"What happened?" Mint asked.

"Two years ago," Keiichiro began, "Raion was fighting the first few aliens that appeared on Earth. One of them, however, was too powerful."

~Flashback~

_A Mew with long, brownish-blonde hair stood face to face with a shadowed figure. Mew Raion had lion ears and a long lion's tail. Her outfit was black. Her top was a middrift that had straps connecting to her choker on her neck that was black with white trimming. The back was bare except for the strap holding her top together around the back. She had pants that cut off at the thigh on her right leg, but reached all the way down to her ankle on the left leg. She had white ankle boots, a white arm band on her right arm and a white wrist band on her left wrist._

_In Mew Raion's hand was a small bottle containing a few drops of Mew Aqua._

"_The Earth is a beautiful place!" Mew Raion shouted at the figure. "You just can't see it because you keep destroying more of it!"_

"_You humans have polluted this world," the figure shot back in a deep voice. "It holds no beauty."_

"_Then you'll have to kill me if you want your hands on the Mew Aqua and Eart." Mew Raion tucked the bottle under her arm band and unleashed her claws._

_Mew Raion fought her foe with all of her power, but she was losing. The enemy put up a shield and bounced her attack back at her._

"_!" Mew Raion flew back and landed on the ground painfully. She struggled to lift herself up to her knees._

"_Give up, human?"_

_Mew Raion hissed at the alien. "Go to hell!"_

"_Raion!"_

_Mew Raion froze. She whipped around as speedy footsteps got closer to her. Ryou stopped about fifteen feet away from her, panting heavily._

_The enemy used the distraction to his advantage and sent an attack at Ryou. Mew Raion realized this and forced herself to get up. She got to Ryou before the blast did and threw herself in front of him._

"_Ribbon Raion Claw!" Mew Raion lashed out with her claws and sent an energy blast right back._

_The attacks met halfway, Mew Raion still holding her own._

"_Raion!" Ryou gasped, watching with fear._

_Mew Raion turned her head to look at him and smiled as she struggled to keep her attack going._

"_Watashi wa, anataga Ryou ai," she said._

_Then the attacks engulfed them and the enemy._

~End Flashback~

"When I woke up, Raion was beside me in her human form," Ryou finished. "The enemy was nowhere to be seen. Raion was just barely alive."

"Ever since then, we've paid off the doctors here to keep quiet about Raion being here," Keiichiro added.

"Why?" Mint asked. "Everyone thinks she died or ran away."

"The aliens know her real identity," Ryou answered. "If they were to find out she was here, she would be killed immediately. She hasn't woken up since that last battle, so she can't protect herself."

"That's horrible," Lettuce said softly.

The girls were looking at Raion with sad eyes.

"Ladies, could I borrow two of you?" Keiichiro asked politely. "Ryou will be staying here overnight, and he'll need some things."

"I'll help," Lettuce volunteered.

Mint nodded, and the two left with Keiichiro. Ichigo was left with Ryou, who never took his eyes off of Raion's sleeping face.

Ichigo watched Ryou. She saw something in his eyes as he gazed at the sleeping girl. She saw something that looked familiar to her.

"Shirogane," she said, stepping forward. "Do you-"

She stopped when Raion's mark on her wrist started glowing, as did the mark on Ichigo's thigh.

"Nani?" Ryou exclaimed, covering his eyes.

Ichigo's eyes widened as her surroundings changed. She was back in the abyss where she first fused with the Iriomote Cat. But she wasn't fusing this time. She was facing a large, female lion. The lion stared at Ichigo for a moment before standing on her hind legs, then turning into a human girl.

"Raion-chan?" Ichigo voiced.

Then Ichigo was back in the hospital room, with Ryou standing beside her and Raion in the bed.

"What just happened?" Ichigo asked him.

But Ryou was watching Raion in shock. Ichigo looked at her.

Raion's fingers were closing and opening slowly. Her eyes were fluttering until they finally opened just a tiny bit.

"Raion?" Ryou whispered.

Raion blinked and sat up slowly. She lifted her head and looked at Ryou with tired eyes. "Ryou?"

Ryou sat next to Raion on the bed and took her into his arms. Raion sighed and relaxed against him, closing her eyes in content.

Ichigo smiled as she watched them. 'He loves her,' she thought


End file.
